"You have to be ready to deal with injuries. It's happened a few times this season and, the more it does, the easier it gets," the 33-year-old explained.

"I class myself as a midfielder and probably always will. I might have spells at centre-back, as I have over the last few years, but I've played for that long in midfield that I can't class myself as anything other than a midfielder."

Tim Poole

Tim Poole is a sports journalist for HITC with a love of football, tennis and snooker in particular.His career to date has seen him speak to former Manchester United boss David Moyes, interview snooker world champion Mark Selby and be snubbed by Premier League managers and players in more than one language!He is a massive Roger Federer fan and lives by the motto that 'sport is life.' When he's not writing about it, he's playing it, be it football, tennis, basketball, badminton, table tennis, darts, snooker, golf or even water polo. He is better at some than others...